2014 Team Preview: Dallas Cowboys

Erik Siegrist is an FSWA award-winning columnist who covers all four major North American sports (that means the NHL, not NASCAR) and whose beat extends back to the days when the Nationals were the Expos and the Thunder were the Sonics. He was the inaugural champion of Rotowire's Staff Keeper baseball league. His work has also appeared at Baseball Prospectus.

To the frustration of their fans, the Cowboys have turned into the NFL's version of the movie Groundhog Day, reliving the same mediocre season over and over. The club finished 2013 at 8-8 and for an amazing third straight year lost a Week 17 tilt that could have clinched an NFC East title. Owner and GM Jerry Jones' unwillingness to commit to a full rebuild – and his belief that the club is just a lucky break or two away from the promised land – is evident in the $100 million contract he handed quarterback Tony Romo. The fact that that he was willing to cut ties with aging sack master DeMarcus Ware is a ray of hope for those who believe the owner will need to blow up the roster before Dallas' four-season playoff drought (and 18-year Super Bowl drought) can come to an end.

Ware's departure puts an exclamation mark on the massive amount of work needed on the defensive side of the ball for the team to become com

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